Thursday, June 24, 2010

Today I am super excited to present you an interview I did with the Fantastic Jeaniene Frost. I love this author that

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much, so I squee’d when she accepted to be part of the fest! Cat&Bones lovers, make sure you read on ‘cause Jeaniene revealed some interesting tidbits ^^

Would you please talk to us about your upcoming release, Eternal Kiss of Darkness?

Sure. In the Night Huntress universe timeline, Eternal Kiss of Darkness takes place after the events in First Drop of Crimson and before the next Cat and Bones book. This doesn’t mean readers need to be caught up on every book in the series before picking up EKOD up, though. Since this is the story of Mencheres and Kira, readers can be new to the Night Huntress world and still not feel lost.

However, readers of the series already know that Mencheres is one of most powerful vampires in existence. Recently, though, he lost his greatest ability, which was to foresee the future. Now that he’s at his weakest, an enemy from all the way back when Mencheres was human is seeking to destroy him.

Kira interrupts what she thinks is a regular mugging, only to find herself in the middle of a millennia-old feud between creatures that aren’t supposed to exist. She knows too much for Mencheres to let her go, but the last thing he needs is to keep watch over the beautiful, stubborn private investigator. Keeping Kira with him soon proves to be more dangerous than her knowledge of the undead, however, because Mencheres can’t control the feelings she rouses in him.

Look for the book trailer to Eternal Kiss of Darkness on my website at the end of June. The first 20% of the book will be up on my website at the beginning of July.

Are there plan for a third Night huntress world novel? If so can you give us a hint as to who will be the main character?

I’d like to do a new recurring-character series set in the Night Huntress World featuring Vlad as the hero and a new character as the heroine. This just goes to show that you should never say never, by the way. When I first started writing Halfway to the Grave, I swore to myself that I would never, ever touch Dracula as a character because he’d been done to death in vampire books (pun intended J). Then, when I was in the middle of writing a scene in my third book, I found Bones saying, “It’s the bloody showhound” and I knew he meant Vlad - yes, that Vlad – was about to show up. I tried to change the scene to take him out, but kept coming back to the same character I’d sworn never to put in one of my books.

As a compromise, I decided to forget everything I’d read about Dracula as a fictional character and research Vlad’s historical record instead. Yes, there was a lot of the usual “cruel tyrant” information, but digging deeper, I found there was also a lot of other historical accounts about Vlad. Some suggested Vlad was a fair but stern ruler whose enemies greatly exaggerated his “atrocities” to garner support against him. Many in Romania still consider Vlad to be a national hero. So I took the alternate historical record and used that as a template for Vlad’s personality – and then totally fell for him as a character. (note this picture was provided by Jeaniene!)

Dracula claims another victim, right? *wink*

I've heard you love to roam graveyards. Do you have a favorite gravemark you'd like to talk to us about?

There’s a cemetery near where I live where several of my family members are buried. A grave close to my grandmother’s has a marker that reads a name with “beautiful, loving - forever my wife” underneath it. I always pause to read that one when I visit my grandmother’s grave, because it reminds me that life is temporary, but love is eternal.

Do you have another passion outside of the book industry?

If I’m not reading or writing, I love watching movies. My DVD collection is as big as my book collection, and I can watch movies with my husband whereas reading is not really a couple’s activity. Thankfully, my husband has similar movie tastes: he also likes horror flicks, action movies, supernatural thrillers, and raunchy comedies. Neither of us are really into chick flicks, or drama movies where everyone dies at the end, but there’s an important lesson to be learned, heh. The other thing I love to do, but it takes too much time and money to do it frequently, is go to theme parks. I love Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, Disney World, Epcot, Busch Gardens, you name it. The new Harry Potter park opens soon, and you can bet I can’t wait to check it out.

What the biggest achievement you'd like to accomplish?

In writing, the answer would be to have a successful series outside of the Night Huntress universe. I love vampires and the world I’ve created, but I have other worlds in my head that I’d love the chance to showcase, too. I actually got the chance to give readers a sneak peek into one of those worlds with my novella in the Haunted By Your Touch anthology (October 2010). My story is Night’s Darkest Embrace and it features demons, partial demons, and fallen angels.

Before I let you go, can you tease us a bit about the next Cat&Bones (Feb. 2011) book? *g*

The title is THIS SIDE OF THE GRAVE, and it comes out February 22, 2011. I just saw the cover and it might be my favorite one yet. I’ve been SO lucky to have Tom Egner as a cover artist for my books. Ghouls and ghosts play a bigger role in this book, as well as Cat dealing with her new status in the vampire world. But if you want the biggest teaser as to what the book will be about, I’m happy to say that the entire first chapter of This Side of the Grave will be at the end of Eternal Kiss of Darkness.

Thanks so much for having me, Tynga! I really appreciate it.

Jeaniene

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Thank you very much for your time Jeaniene, I greatly appreciate your participation to the Paranormal Summer Fest, and it was an honor to meet you!

If you don’t know Jeaniene’s books yet, I strongly suggest you run to the closest book store and purchase them!

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Now onto some giveaway love!

Harper Collins Canada and Jeaniene Frost are offering 1 copy each of Eternal Kiss of Darkness

Which means, there will be one Canadian winner and one American winner.

EKOD don’t release until late July, so it might take a few weeks before you winners gets their copy.

An immortal war has been brewing in the darkness…and now one woman has stumbled into the shadows.

Chicago private investigator Kira Graceling should have just kept on walking. But her sense of duty refused to let her ignore the moans of pain coming from inside a warehouse just before dawn. Suddenly she finds herself in a world she’s only imagined in her worst nightmares.

At the center is Mencheres, a breathtaking Master Vampire who thought he’d seen it all. Then Kira appears—this fearless, beautiful…human who braved death to rescue him. Though he burns for her, keeping Kira in his world means risking her life, yet sending her away is unthinkable.

But with danger closing in, Mencheres must choose between the woman he craves, or embracing the darkest magic to defeat an enemy bent on his eternal destruction.

43 People left their mark' :

I would LOVE to see a story featuring Vlad! I just came across his character in At Grave's End, and I immediately loved him. I haven't read Destined for an Early Grave or First Drop of Crimson yet, but I own the latter. Great interview! :)

*Not going to gush* Okay, I can't handle it. I have to. SQUEE!!!!!!! You have NO idea how excited that makes me to hear you are considering a series in the NH world where Vlad will be the main character. LOVE him... not as much as my Bones (I will share, Cat) but I do love him.

This is my favorite series out there and I can't wait for the upcoming NH world book and the next Cat and Bones. Great interview! I enjoyed it!

Tynga...that interview rocked. I am so jealous. I think I've never been this jealous before LOL ;) Sooo since I don't like that emotion, I will transfer it to being all gaga over that picture. I can not wait to read this book. *crossing fingers*

I LOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVVVE Jeaniene Frost!!! She's tied with two others for my fave of all time ever. XD I envy you of getting an interview with her.

I am already rereading my books of hers so that way I will be all caught up for EKOD. I'm probably doing so waaaaay early, but I just can't wait!!!

Good to hear about Vlad, because I LOVE him. Definitely got another victim, here. lol

AND THERE'S THE WHOLE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE NEXT CAT&BONES BOOK IN THE BACK OF EKOD?!?!?!

I better hide my copy when I get it, or my friends will tear it to shreds fighting over who gets their hands on it to read that chapter. (I never should have introduced them to Bones... I wouldn't have had to share! LOL :D)

I absolutely love Bones and Cat! And I've sucked my dad in completely and I'm pulling my mom in as well. I also love Vlad and I would totally read his own series. I enjoyed his role in the fourth Cat and Bones book.Also, I am now doubly excited for EKoD! I cannot wait to read the first chapter of the next book!

I just happen to be reading Destined for an Early Grave right now, have First Drop of Crimson waiting on my TBR shelf, and am desperately dying to get my hands on Eternal Kiss of Darkness. I love Jeaniene's books. I so hope I win!

OH!!! I really really really REALLY want to win this one!!!! I love her books but rarely have a chance to read them because my library doesn't have any (horrible I know). So when I go visit my sister in Louisiana I go to the libraries near her house to find them. Great contest! Thank you!

I am a Cat and Bones junkie!!! I think the Night Huntress series and Night Huntress World series are just FABULOUS!!! I can't get enough. Once you read them you become hooked. I read a lot of books and these are by far my favorite!!!

I would love nothing more then to be able to read a book about Vlad though he wasn't a huge character in all of the books i fell in love right as he walked through that door with Mencheres. There was just something about him, im obsessed it the only way to put it!!!!